Replace jobs lost by closing the Navajo Generating Station with “tourism?”
Really? That’s the best solution Page’s consultant has come up with?
How about jobs doing environmental cleanup from the damage caused by the plant and by uranium mining? How about replacing the coal plant with solar and wind generation? All of these options and more that experts could offer would be higher paying jobs than the service jobs related to “tourism.”
But, of course, these quality infrastructure jobs would require at least a kickstart from the federal government and that’s not in the works with the current administration. Instead, we’ll see more minimum wage jobs serving foreign tourists and the diminishing number of Americans who can afford vacation travel.
Page exists because the federal government decided to build the Glen Canyon dam. Why would they resist another federal infusion of long-term infrastructure? Perhaps because they have been led to forget their history. The Hoover and Glen Canyon dams were built when America valued investments that worked for the American people. We need to reform the federal budget to get back to those values.
ANN HEITLAND
Originally published in Arizona Daily Sun, Oct. 11, 2017: Page deserves more than tourism | Letters | azdailysun.com
Share this: